


To Strengthen Ties

by Jestana



Series: 30 Days of AU [6]
Category: Brave (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1920s, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-07
Updated: 2013-07-07
Packaged: 2017-12-17 23:08:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/873018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jestana/pseuds/Jestana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even in the 1920's, arranged marriages still happen. Sort of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Strengthen Ties

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 30 day AU challenge. The challenge for this one was _1920's/Mafia_. No beta.

Merida Dunbroch watched as Mr. Dingwall and his son walked away from where she'd been sitting with her parents. They were the last of the clan leaders to pay their respects to her and her parents. She eyed her mother suspiciously; thinking of the expectant looks on the faces of the clan leaders and their sons. "Mum, what's goin' on here?"

"Didn't yer father tell ye?" Elinor asked, glancing up at her husband with a raised eyebrow.

Fergus tugged at the collar of his dress shirt, as if it was too tight. "I, er, no, I guess it slipped my mind."

"Och, Fergus!" The look Elinor gave her husband made him wilt a little.

Merida looked from one to the other, a sinking feeling her stomach. Here she was, finally 18 and she sensed that her world was about to change in a way she wouldn't like. "What did I do now?"

"The thing is, Merida, I made a promise tae the other clans when we banded together against the Italians," Fergus explained, running a big hand through his red curls. "I promised that my eldest child would marry one of _their_ children to help strengthen the ties between our clans."

She stared at him, feeling the blood drain from her face. "And now that I'm 18, ye're expectin' me tae uphold yer end of the bargain?"

"Fergus had just lost his leg thanks to the Italians," Elinor reminded her daughter. "He couldn't hold them off on his own. He _had_ to make the promise otherwise we wouldn't be here today."

Merida slid out of the booth, glaring at them. "I want my freedom! I've been waitin' for this day for years and now ye're goin' tae take it away from me?"

"I made a promise, Merida," Fergus told her, getting up with difficulty, wobbling a little before he managed to balance himself properly with his cane and artificial leg. "If I don't keep it, the other clans could very well withdraw their support and the Italians could finish what they started twenty years ago."

She stabbed a finger into his chest, glaring at him. "Ye mean if _I_ don't keep it for ye! I won't do it! Ye cannae make me!"

With that, Merida stormed out of the speakeasy and up to the flat she shared with her parents and fifteen-year-old triplet brothers: Hubert, Harris, and Hamish. Thankfully, they were out at the moment, probably getting up to their usual mischief, so she made it to her room without being stopped. She groaned when the door opened a moment later. "Merida."

"Mum! Marriage? Now?" She paced the room restlessly, tugging at the red curls she'd inherited from her father.

"I'm sorry, Merida. I hoped yer father would tell ye sooner." Elinor, standing beside the door, watched her daughter pace.

She pointed in the general direction of the speakeasy. "I'm assumin' the sons they introduced me tae are the ones I'm tae choose from?"

Elinor nodded, brushing back a strand of her dark brown hair when it fell into her eyes. "They are."

"Ye saw them, right? How can he expect me tae marry one of _them_?" Merida couldn't imagine herself married to any of those boys. Young Macintosh had been quite handsome and also quite obviously aware of the fact. Young MacGuffin had been shy and timid, barely looking up from his feet at all. Wee Dingwall had stared vacantly into space the whole time, apparently unaware of what was going on around him.

Her mother sighed and nodded. "Yer father and I talked about this already. We thought it'd be best if ye got to know the boys. Perhaps, once ye know them, ye can better see yerself married tae one of them."

"It's not fair!" she retorted, tearing off the feathered headband she'd worn to help keep her curls in check. "I don't want tae get married at all!"

Elinor gazed sternly at her daughter. "Do ye want tae die instead? That's what we face if ye don't marry one of those boys."

"What about Hubert, Harris, and Hamish?" This time she gestured down the hall to the bedroom her brothers shared. "Will they have tae marry any of their daughters?"

She saw the answer on her mother's face before she answered. "Why do _I_ have tae give up my freedom and _they_ don't?"

"Because ye're the eldest!" Elinor's shout surprised Merida. In all her life, she'd never heard her mother raise her voice. She'd been brought up to never raise her voice, to keep the peace. With visible effort, she calmed herself. "If ye'd been born a boy, ye'd be marryin' one of their daughters."

Merida flopped on her bed, most of her anger spent. "What about my freedom, Mum?"

"Who says ye'll have tae give it up when ye marry?" Elinor sat down on the edge of the bed. "If ye choose wisely, ye'll still have yer freedom, just in a different form."

She sighed and shifted around to curl up with her head in her mother's lap. In a way, she'd lost the argument before it'd begun. If it would keep her family safe, she'd do it, even if she didn't like it. "I'll get tae know them."

"Thank ye." Her mother began to hum a Scottish lullaby, gently stroking Merida's curls. After a few bars, they began to sing together in Gaelic.


End file.
